Venues Update: February 16

Image: Labor Councillor Linda Scott

MUSIC BACK AT SYDNEY’S HAROLD PARK…

Live music is back on Sunday afternoons at Harold Park Hotel in Glebe, Sydney from this weekend. The acoustic sessions in its courtyard were shut down after a single complaint from a resident who moved in two weeks earlier. The hotel faced a $6,000 fine from the local council. But hotel management and council managed to work through the issues.

BUT CR. LINDA SCOTT PUSHES FOR CHANGE

Although the Harold Park is safe for now, City of Sydney Labor Councillor and live music activist Linda Scott says that a similar shut-down is possible unless the NSW Government implements its March 2014 Live Music Action plan.

“Live music venues across our city continue to operate under the constant threat of being shut down from a single noise complaint,” Scott says.

“Unless the Lord Mayor Clover Moore implements the Live Music and Performance Action Plan, we will see a repeat of the Harold Park live music shutdown at other live music venues.”

Responding to findings of a 61% decline in gig listings in the City of Sydney between 2004 and 2013, the Plan made 60 recommendations. One of these was to review the Sydney Development Control Plan to identify and protect areas with strong traditions of live music and performance. Only nine recommendations have been acted upon.

Says Scott, “The City could achieve this by streamlining approval processes for low impact live music and performance activity, including possibly expanding Exempt and Complying Development regulations in the City’s Local Environmental Plan.”

MELBOURNE LOSING ANOTHER VENUE?

Melbourne could be losing another inner city live music venue. Plans have been lodged with Melbourne City Council to demolish The Quiet Man in Kensington to make way for a $12 million 45-unit apartment block.

However, the development could take up to another year, even more given that 22 objections to the development have already been lodged.

ARCHITECT NAMED FOR ADELAIDE’S HER MAJESTY’S

The South Australian Government, which has committed to a $35 million update of Adelaide’s Her Majesty’s Theatre, announced that Cox Architecture has been picked as the lead architect. Work will start next year to finish in 2019.

National promoters have long complained that many stage productions bypass Adelaide because there isn’t a large enough venue to make the staging financially viable, and that the Adelaide Festival Theatre is usually booked out.

Her Majesty’s capacity will be increased from 970 to 1,500. This will lead to 100 more shows staged in the city, the Government said.

CHERRY BAR’S FIRST ACTS FOR CHERRYFEST

The 11th Cherryfest on Sunday May 7 at Cherry Bar in Melbourne’s AC/DC Lane is introducing more international acts. The first announcement includes US acts Dwarves and Nashville Pussy, Galican duo BALA, Sweden’s Bottlecap and Indonesia’s Mooner and Kelompok Penerbang Roket.

NEW OWNERS FOR PEPPERTOWN…

The Peppertown Café in East Maitland, Newcastle, has new owners. They are two musicians, Natalie and Brock Henry of the alt-country group The Wayward Henrys. Unsurprisingly, they’ll continue the previous owner’s support for live music, including weekend sessions from 11:00am to 1:00pm and open mic nights on alternate Wednesdays.

…AND SYDNEY’S CROWN HOTEL

The Crown Hotel in Sydney’s Surry Hills has exchanged hands for $26.1 million. The new owner is Damian Kelly’s Peak Investments, who have hired well-known Sydney publican Jason Marlow to run it.

It was previously part of the Lantern Hotel Group’s portfolio, and the final of its assets to be jettisoned after it made the decision last year.

DARWIN CLUB ACCUSED OF GANG LINKS

A Darwin nightclub has been accused of having New Zealand gang links by NT Police. The owner denies it but police say the bikers wear their red colours inside, and are featured on the venue’s social media postings.

WELLINGTON TOWN HALL GETS $60M WORK

The Wellington Town Hall is about to be strengthened to the tune of $60 million after being closed after the 2012 earthquake. Mayor Justin Lester wants to turn it into a music hub, and to include recording studios and reconfigured performance rooms.

The tender has just been issued, with plans for the design work to be finalised by December, and for the 33 month long construction to begin in early 2018.

CIVIC TO HOST OCTOBER SESSIONS

The Civic Underground will host a series of semi-regular club events called October Nights curated by October Records. The first of these is to be held on March 3 with Melbourne’s Amateur Dance, Sydney’s Endgrain and Sydney DJs Mira Boru, The Completely Boys and McInnes.

CANBERRA THEATRE MANAGER HONOURED

Neil McRitchie, Building Services Manager of the Canberra Theatre Centre for the past 14 years, received the Don Aitken Award for his contribution to the city’s theatre sector.